Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/371

Rh, all of whom are prevented by the rules of their institutions from holding lordships with seigneurial rights, or acquiring property to any great extent; and consequently are much better calculated to become useful members of a Christian community. (Vide Ecclesiastical Report of 1826.)

Having taken a general view, in the preceding pages, of the situation of the Church of Mexico in 1827, it only remains for me to point out, a little more in detail, the effects produced by the Revolution.

The Constitution has vested in the President the right of conceding, or refusing, the Pase, or Placet, which may be considered as equivalent to the Regium Exequatur, without which no Bull, or even Indulgence, was allowed to circulate in the Spanish possessions of Ultramar. This right has been freely exercised; twenty-four only, of thirty-three Briefs and Rescripts transmitted from Rome, having obtained the Constitutional Pase in the year 1826. Of the remainder, four were referred to the Senate, and five rejected altogether.

One of these is the Bull of the 24th December, 1825, for the extension of the Jubilee, which has not been allowed to circulate, "Because it contains doctrines contrary to that of the sovereignty of the people, and in favour of the absolute power of Kings, identifying their cause with that of the Church." The other four are all Bulls in favour of the